Marketing Campaign

Today's "wait for it..." moment is brought to us by Sears. So worth it.

[slyoyster]

This new spot, from Britain's Channel 4... just... wow.

[deadspin]

From Portland's Wieden + Kennedy, the companion ad to April's tearjerker tribute to Olympians' moms. Awww.

[adfreak]

From photographer Markus Mueller, a cheeky new ad campaign promoting Das Handwerk, the quality of German craftsmanship.

[biotv]

In a new two-spot ad campaign -- his first in the U.S. -- John Malkovich falls for Siri. Destined to be a classic.

(Here's the second commercial.)

[adweek]

BBDO Brazil for Getty Images wins the the award for Most Moving Time-Lapse Composed Entirely Of Unrelated Stock Images:

Copywriter Sophie Schoenburg and art director Marcus Kotlhar worked 6 months researching images, improving the script and building each scene so they would not only be understood, but would also touch viewers. Sometimes, for example, a scene would look perfect on paper, but the images chosen to depict it were not sufficient or did not perfectly match up to offer the right movement and sense. And hence the research had to be restarted.

[hypervocal]

Redditor Bret16 posted this pic he snapped at a local gas station.

Top thread comment: "As a father, I'm just pissed that I don't have to buy condoms at the same rate as I buy diapers."

[reddit]

A fully funded $14,800 Kickstarter has resulted in an extensive D.C. ad campaign defending Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is charged with "aiding the enemy" for leaking the largest dump of classified information in U.S. history to WikiLeaks. If convicted, Manning faces life in prison, an outcome the series of subway ads -- which hail him as a whistleblower -- seeks to avoid.

The ads, by nonprofit ad firm EpicStep and the Bradley Manning Support Network, are directed at government workers in the capital:

The military has done its best to limit public exposure to Bradley Manning's case by holding the trial at Ft. Meade, a relatively difficult location for the public to attend, and they have not released transcripts of the pretrial hearing, thereby limiting media exposure and making it difficult for laymen to follow the proceedings. Let's bring the case back to Washington! ... These ads will force government workers to remember WikiLeaks and Bradley Manning, remind them that the public is behind Bradley, and explain that what Bradley is accused of doing is a public good.

Bradley's next hearing is June 6.

[shortformblog]

Apparently, most women have hard-and-fast "rules about what they won't put in their vaginas." This new spot for Sir Richard's condoms elicits said rules -- though they seem to involve specific types of men, more than anything else -- and promises the condom brand won't add any chemicals, either.

Happy National Women's Health Week.

(See also: Sir Richard's spot defending sluts.)

[adweek]

A new campaign called "Freedom to Serve, Freedom to Marry" -- whose debut video will give you chills -- takes aim at the Defense of Marriage Act and its impact on gay and lesbian military families. The video follows the devastating trajectory of a lesbian relationship when one of the women serves in Afghanistan.

Evan Wolfson, the founder of Freedom to Marry, one of the organizations behind the campaign, spells it out for us:

Many people assume that, with the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," gay men and lesbians serving our country are now being treated fairly and equally, but that's not the case. We ended the ban on open military service for gay and lesbian Americans, but there is still federal ban on treating married service members as what they are: married.

[towleroad]

Dad finally gets center stage -- and the respect he deserves -- in Volkswagen's new 90-second spot for the "small but tough" Polo.

*Could cause misty eyes.

[hypervocal]

Nothing like perfectly styled mug shots of kids looking boss to promote prescription eyewear. Don't miss the full gallery -- from Very French Gangsters -- here.

[petapixel]

Meet Sultan the Tomcat, who epitomizes the "better late than never" idiom in SPCA's latest spot advocating pet sterilization.

[spca]

As if it weren't enough that North Carolina already doesn't recognize same-sex unions, the state votes May 8 on a ballot measure that reads: "Constitutional amendment to provide that marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized by this State."

This ad campaign, by Winston-Salem agency The Variable, plays on segregation-era discrimination to shock voters into voting down the offensive legislation, called Amendment 1: "On May 8th, make history. Don't repeat it."

Yes, please.

[adsoftheworld]

French Socialist presidential candidate François Hollande -- who leads incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy after the first round of voting -- has co-opted Jay-Z and Kanye West's anthem "Ni*as In Paris" for his latest campaign ad. The song backgrounds footage that shows Hollande campaigning in the outer Parisian suburbs among people of various ethnic backgrounds, as they hold up their voter registration cards. And Slate helpfully points out: "Creil," one of the suburbs Hollande campaigns in during the ad, is pronounced "cray" as in, "That sht Creil."

Despite the perhaps questionable song choice, Hollande's general play is a smart one -- Sarkozy has a lousy history with the outer regions of the Paris metro area, where a high percentage of racial minority and immigrant populations live. The next round of voting is May 6.

(Not Safe For Work, Kanye and Jay-Z)

[crushable]